Dispenser for pressure-sensitive tape



March 19, 1968 J. R-HOLLINS 3,373,855

DISPENSER FOR PRESSURE-SENSITIVE TAPE Filed March 10, 1966 F/ 6 4 INVENTOR.

JESSE R. HOLLINS ATTORNEYS 3,373,865 Patented Mar. 19, 1968 Free 3,373,865 DISPENSER FOR PRESSURE-SENSITIVE TAPE Jesse R. Hollins, 1059 E. 22nd St, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11210 Filed Mar. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 533,300 6 Claims. (Cl. 20652) This invention relates to a dispenser for pressure-sensitive tape and, more particularly, to a dispenser of the character described featuring mechanical means to facilitate the withdrawal of the tape from the container. 7

Conventional portable tape dispensers of the characacter described comprise a housing including two broad substantially flat parallel walls with an intermediate support. A long slender ribbon of the pressure-sensitive tape Wound on a sleeve forms a multi-turn roll of the tape. The roll of tape is placed in the housing with its sleeve journaled on the support for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the planes of the housing walls so that a length of tape can be unrolled from the dispenser and severed from the roll, when desired. For this purpose, the housing includes a serrated edge on which the tape can be easily cut, and which holds the free end of the tape. Often, the housing includes a base which makes the dispenser selfsupporting on any fiat surface.

One face of the tape includes a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, or, optionally, both faces of the tape are finished to include pressure sensitive adhesive layers. The adhesive tapes referred to are completely conventional,

and well-known brands thereof are Scotch Brand tape and Lepages Cellophane Thriftape.

Since the dimensions of the tape dispenser are usually greater in radius (perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the roll) than width (parallel to the axis of the roll), the tape dispensers with their contained rolls of adhesive tape often are stored on their broad flat sides. This obtains both when large numbers of the tape dispensers are stored in cartons, as well as when an individual tape dispenser is stored, say, in a desk drawer.

It has been observed that when a tape dispenser is in this position, i.e., lying on its side, for a period of time, the tape convolutions slide on one another and one broad side of the roll slowly shifts downwardly until it conforms to and rests against the interior face of one broad wall of the housing. There is ample opportunity for this deformation to take place in storage, especially in retail stores and in wholesalers warehouses, where the tape dispensers may be maintained on their sides for substantial periods of time.

It has been observed that in this flat storage position, the lowermost side of the roll of tape defined by the edges of the tape, which side rests against the inside surface of the lower housing wall, adheres strongly to said wall. Because the area of adherence is large, i.e., over the entire area of the side of the wall, the tape usually is strongly adhered to the housing wall so that the tape is not free to rotate within the housing and the free end of the tape cannot be pulled out, as is necessary to enable a user to remove lengths of tape therefrom as desired.

This condition of a side of the roll of tape sticking to a housing wall is thought to be caused by a cold flow over an extended time period of small quantities of the adhesive material from marginal portions of the face of the tape and into contact with the housing wall. This may in part be 'due to the weight of the adhesive material which, when the tape roll is placed on its side, is enabled to flow vertically downwardly by the force of gravity aided by a squeezing effect on the adhesive material generated by the winding of the tape under tension. Regardless of its cause, the side of the tape roll is found to be sticky to the touch. Further, as noted above, after storage periods, some convolutions of the tape roll shift with respect to others so that adjacent turns of the tape roll are slightly offset from one another. This exposes a very narrow adherent marginal strip on shifted convolutions which enhances the foregoing difiiculty.

The adherence of the tape roll to the housing wall makes the dispenser inoperative, causes return of dispensers to retail or wholesale sources of supply, and damages the business reputation of the manufacturer.

To prevent the foregoing from happening, in my copending application Ser. No. 370,267, filed May 26, 1964, now Patent No. 3,263,805 for Dispenser for Pressure Sensitive Tape, I disclosed the use of a pair of fiat centrally apertured washers within the dispenser housing. Each washer was located between a side of the tape roll and an adjacent interior surface of the housing wall and was journaled on the tape roll support. Each washer was of sufficient outside diameter to cover substantially the entire associated side area of the roll. When a tape dispenser with my washers therein was stored fiat on its side, the tape roll adhered to the lowermost washer rather than to the housing wall. When a user attempted to unwind a length of tape, the washer rotated with the roll and the roll was free with respect to the housing wall. As lengths of tape were pulled from the roll, successive portions of the particular convolutions being rolled were easily freed from their edgewise adherence to the washer.

It is the primary object of my present invention to provide new and improved mechanical means to prevent the adherence of a side of the tape roll to the interior surface of an adjacent wall of the container housing so as to enable a user of the item to withdraw lengths of adhesive tape therefrom even after extended periods of flat storage.

It is a further object of my invention to provide mechanical means of the character described which is extremely inexpensive and capable of mass production, and which adds only insignificantly to the cost of the tape dispenser.

It is another object of my invention to provide mechanical means of the character described which can be incorporated into tape dispensers of the type described without requiring a redesign of the dispensers, and which will not affect the external appearance of the containers.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown two of the various possible embodiments of my invention:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing the several components of a dispenser for pressure sensitive tape and including the mechanical means of my invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged axial vertical sectional view of the aforementioned dispenser and adhesive tape, with its several components assembled;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 2 and showing a second embodiment of my invention; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section of a segment of the tape.

In general, and in accordance with the teaching of my instant invention, I provide a pair of similar, mirrorimage caps which are located within the dispenser housing. Each cap is located between a side of the tape roll and a proximate wall of the housing.

Each cap is so designated because it covers one side of the tape roll and prevents such side from coming into contact with the adjacent housing wall. Each cap includes a flat circular annular disc of a diameter at least about equal to the diameter of a fully wound roll of tape. Each cap further includes as a characteristic of the present invention a cylindrical tubular hub integral with the disc and protruding from one side thereof, with the interior diameter of the hub being the same as the diameter of the central aperture of the disc.

When the caps are assembled with a tape roll within a dispenser, their hubs jut toward one another. Each cap is located so that its disc is flat against a side of the tape roll and so that its hub fits within the tape roll sleeve and over the tape roll support. The disc of each cap insures that noside of a tape roll will adhere to a housing wall while the hub of each cap properly locates the cap in correct position within the dispenser housing.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference numeral denotes a dispenser constructed in accordance with the present invention. The dispenser contains and rotatably supports a roll of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 11. Said dispenser includes a dispenser housing 12 which is completely conventional and well-known to those skilled in the art. It is the portable, lightweight type commonly found in homes and oflices. Although a specific type of dispenser housing 12 is illustrated in the drawings, it is evident that any dispenser housing of this general type will be suitable for incorporation with my invention.

The dispenser housing 12 may be formed from any well-known material having the characteristics of light weight, durability, strength and tOughneSs, a synthetic plastic commonly being used for all or the major part of this housing.

More specifically, the housing 12 includes two interconnected broad substantially flat walls, to wit, a left wall 14 and a right Wall 16. The terms left and right are used herein only for convenience, and are, of course, dependent upon the point of view taken of the illustrated dispenser. The walls 14, 16 are generally parallel, coextensive, and of similar configuration. In the embodiment shown, the peripheries of the walls 14-, 16 are bridged by a flange 18 of uniform width which projects inwardly perpendicularly from and is integral with the left wall 14. The flange 18 runs for essentially the entire length of the border of the wall to which it is attached. It should be mentioned at this point that both walls may be of the same material, or, optionally, the wall which is integral with the flange may be of a transparent plastic material, and the other wall may be paperboard or chipboard and have imprinted thereon advertising indicia. The latter form of the dispenser is illustrated in the drawings.

As is standard in such portable home or ofi ice type tape dispensers 10, a portion of the housing includes a serrated edge 20 comprising a row of blunt-edged teeth against which the adhesive tape may be conveniently severed by a user thereof when a length is unwound from the tape roll. The edge 20 has a rearward flat portion of the flange 18 behind the teeth on which the free end of the adhesive tape may be held after severance. The flange 18 is interrupted by an opening in back of the edge 20 to permit the tape to be withdrawn from the housing.

Further, as an integral part of the housing 12, a lower horizontal portion of the flange 18 acts as a base 22 on which the tape dispenser may rest and is thus made selfsupporting on any flat surface such as a shelf or a desk top.

It will be noted that the tape dispenser is substantially greater in its radial dimension than in its width. The shape of the dispenser thereby lends itself to storage flat on one of its sides, both when large quantities of dispensers are packed in cartons as well as when an individual dispenser is temporarily stored in, say, a desk drawer.

The dispenser has a support 24 between the broad flat walls of the tape dispenser housing, and in the illustrated embodiment of my invention, said support comprises a stubby hollow tubular cylinder of constant circular crosssection. The support is in one piece with the left housing wall 14 and projects centrally inwardly therefrom.

In one type of conventional tape dispenser as shown in the illustrated embodiment of my invention, one of the tape dispenser walls, here the right Wall 16, has an outline which fits snugly within the outline formed by the outward margin of the essentially continuous flange 18. The flange extends slightly further from the left wall than does the tubular support. The right wall 16 has a through aperture 26 of a diameter to fit snugly over the outside diameter of the tubular support 24. The right wall 16 fits frictionally within the outline of the margin of the flange 18 and its central aperture 26 fits over the outer surface of the tubular support 24.

The components of the housing are held together by a retainer 28. The retainer has a hollow inwardly extending shank 30 which fits frictionally within the interior surface of the tubular support 24 and has an overhanging lip 32 which, when the components are assembled, presses against the exterior surface of the right wall 16 so as to hold said wall in its proper location. The assembly of the several components of the dispenser is most clearly illustrated in FIG. 2.

The dispenser is constructed and arranged to be used with a conventional roll ill of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape. The roll 11 constitutes a long slender ribbon 34 of thin flexible plastic tape wound on a sleeve 36, usually plastic or of paperboard. The sleeve is a cylindrical tube and has an internal diameter somewhat larger than the exterior diameter of the support 24. The axial length of the sleeve is the same as the axial length of the tape roll 11, this being a result of the method of forming the rolls. Such method includes the winding of broad webs of pressure sensitive tape on axially elongated tubes. After a desired number of convolutions have been wound on the tube, the composite is sliced into a number of like tape rolls, the cutting blade in the slicing operation passing through both the tape web and the tube so that the sides of each roll are in registry with the edges of the sleeve of such roll. A magnitude of convolutions of the tape form a multi-turn roll.

The tape, as is well-known, comprises a flexible thin plastic carrier base A (FIG. 4) and a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive B on one of the faces of the base. Tape having pressure-sensitive adhesive layers on both faces of the base, the adhesive faces of adjacent convolutions being held apart by the usual separater strip, can also be utilized. The tape is wound so that an adhesive face of one convolution is injuxtaposition to a nonadhesive face of a radially inner adjacent convolution. Scotch Brand tape and Lepages Cellophane Thriftape are well-known commercially available examples of the aforementioned tape roll.

In accordance with my present invention, and to remedy the defect in commercially available prior adhesive tape dispensers hereinabove discussed, I provide two caps 42, 44 of preferably like dimensions and configuration. The caps are mirror-images of one another. Each cap includes a flat circular thin annular disc, respectively, 46, 48.

The outside diameter of each disc is preferably at least as large as the outside diameter of a fully wound roll 11 of tape and desirably, as illustrated, is slightly larger than said roll.

Each cap further includes a hollow cylindrical hub, respectively, 50, 52, the hub of each cap being integral with the disc of its cap. The hub of each cap protrudes from one side of its associated disc, and the caps are so oriented that their hubs jut toward one another when they are disposed within a tape dispenser. The hubs are coaxial with the discs of their respective caps. Further, the joint axial length of the hub may be approximately equal to the axial length of the sleeve 36 of the tape roll 11. Shorter hubs can be employed.

The caps can be mass-produced from any inexpensive material such as plastic, paperboard, or sheet metal, and are of suflicient internal strength to be self-formmaintaining. Typically the caps can be molded from plastic or blanked and drawn from sheet stock. To maximize the advantages of my invention the side of each disc facing the roll is smooth and non-absorbent, this being inherent in metal and plastic, and obtained by treatment, e.g., glazing with paperboard. In addition, although not essential, the aforesaid side of the cap can be provided with a release coating, e.g., of silicone or quilon. The

thickness of the discs is oflittle consequence, except that the discs should be thick enough to be self-form-maintaining, yet should not be so thick as to occupy a disproportionate amount of space within the container housmg.

Each of the discs is substantially coextensive with the area of one of the sides of the fully wound roll (the area defined by the edges of the tape convolutions), so that when the components of the dispenser are as sembled, each disc will prevent contact of the side of the roll of tape with the associated adjacent housing wall, regardless of the length of time it is stored fiat.

In the assembly of the several components of my invention, first both caps 42, 44 are placed against the roll 11, each cap being located with its hub, respectively 40, 52 protruding from a different side into and within the sleeve 36 of the roll and with its disc, respectively 46, 48 flat against a different side of the roll. The roll with the caps thereon is next placed over the housing support 24, and then the housing wall 16 and the retainer 28 are emplaced so that the housing is fully assembled. Each cap now has its disc interposed between a side of the roll and a housing wall, preventing contact between these elements. The hub of each cap is situated between the roll sleeve and the housing support with said hubs being so dimensioned that they can freely rotate on the support.

The caps 42, 44 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 have their hubs dimensioned so that said hubs are each slightly smaller in outside diameter than the interior diameter of the sleeve 36. This permits free rotation of the caps with respect to the tape roll. Further, the combined axial length of the hubs is slightly greater than the axial length of the roll sleeve. Thereby, when the facing tips of the hubs abut, one or another or both discs are slightly spaced from the sides of the roll. Said spacing aids in facilitating easy removal of tape when desired from the roll.

A dispenser 10' embodying another embodiment of my invention is fragmentarily illustrated in FIG. 3 and differs in that the hubs '50, 52' of the caps 42', 44' are dimensioned so that they frictionally fit into the sleeve interior and so rotate with the tape roll. In said second embodiment, the hubs of the caps terminate short of one another, the said frictional engagement optionally holding the discs 46', 48' slightly spaced from the tape roll sides.

Should the dispenser be stored on its side long enough for the roll to have become immobolized if the caps were not present, this defect will no longer be present because the lower side of the roll now will adhere onl to an adjacent disc or, if the tape dispenser were stored first upon one side and then upon another side, the tape roll may adhere to both discs of the respective caps 42, 44. In either instance, when it is desired to withdraw a length of tape from the roll, both caps are free to turn together with the roll of tape relative to the walls of the housing. Only a relatively light force, which force is only an additional slight pull in addition to the pull necessary to unwind a length of tape from its adjacent convolution, is necessary to pull away the edge (or edges) of successive lengths of tape from adhesive contact with the disc, this slight additional pull being hardly even noticeable in the normal course of unwinding a length of tape.

I have thereby eliminated the possibility of one entire side or both sides of the tape roll strongly adhering to one or both of the housing walls, and I have thereb achieved the several objects of my invention.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

' Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A portable pressure-sensitive adhesive tape dispenser, said dispenser including a multi-convoluted wound roll of tape, the diameter of the 'roll being greater than the width of the roll, the roll having a pair of spaced opposed circular side faces defined by the edges of the convolutions of the tape, at least the radially inward face of the tape being covered by a layer of a pressure-sensitive adhesive, a cylindrical sleeve about which the tape is wound, said sleeve having its edges in alignment with the side faces of the roll, a housing containing and rotatably carrying the roll of tape, said housing comprising two broad substantially flat spaced generally parallel interconnected walls, a support intermediate the walls on which the sleeve of the tape roll is journaled for rotation about an axis generally perpendicular to the walls and a cap interposed between a side face of the tape roll and an interior surface of a housing wall, the cap comprising a flat disc of a size sufiiciently large to substantially cover the said side face of the roll, and further comprising a cylindrical hub integral and concentric with the disc, said hub being disposed between the sleeve of the tape roll and said support, the lower side face of the tape roll overlying the disc of the cap when the tape dispenser is stored with the walls of the housing substantially horizontal with said face lowermost and after a passage of time be coming sticky by the exposure of the pressure sensitive adhesive at said side face, and said side face adhering to the interior face of said disc of the cap, the cap thereupon adhering to and rotating with the roll of tape and thereby preventing inoperativeness of the dispenser caused by adherance of the sticky face of the roll to the housing wall, the outermost convolution of the tape being freed from edgewise adherence to the disc of the cap as said convolution is unwound from the roll.

2. A tape dispenser as set forth in claim 1 wherein there are provided two mirror-image caps, each cap being interposed between a different side face of the tape roll and interior adjacent surface of a housing wall with the hub of each cap located between the sleeve of the tape roll and the support of the housing, said hubs extending toward one another.

3. A tape dispenser as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hub is cylindrical and has an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the sleeve of the tape roll.

4. A tape dispenser as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hub is cylindrical and has an outer diameter dimensioned for frictional engagement within the sleeve of the tape roll.

5. A tape dispenser as set forth in claim 2 wherein the hubs protrude from one side of their respective caps and the combined axial length of the hubs is slightly greater than the axial length of the sleeve of the tape roll, thereby when the facing tips of the hubs abut, one or another or both discs are slightly spaced from the associated sides of the tape roll.

6. A tape dispenser as set forth in claim 5 wherein each of the hubs of the caps has an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the sleeve of the tape roll.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,112,062 9/1914 Gardner 20652 2,118,791 5/1938 Hines 225-47 2,700,463 1/1955 McCormick 20652 3,263,805 8/ 1966 Hollins 20'652 JAMES M. MEISTER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PORTABLE PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE TAPE DISPENSER, SAID DISPENSER INCLUDING A MULTI-CONVOLUTED WOUND ROLL OF TAPE, THE DIAMETER OF THE ROLL BEING GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF THE ROLL, THE ROLL HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED OPPOSED CIRCULAR SIDE FACES DEFINED BY THE EDGES OF THE CONVOLUTIONS OF THE TAPE, AT LEAST THE RADIALLY INWARD FACE OF THE TAPE BEING COVERED BY A LAYER OF A PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE, A CYLINDRICAL SLEEVE ABOUT WHICH THE TAPE IS WOUND, SAID SLEEVE HAVING ITS EDGES IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE SIDE FACES OF THE ROLL, A HOUSING CONTAINING AND ROTATABLY CARRYING THE ROLL OF TAPE, SAID HOUSING COMPRISING TWO BROAD SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT SPACED GENERALLY PARALLEL INTERCONNECTED WALLS, A SUPPORT INTERMEDIATE THE WALLS ON WHICH THE SLEEVE OF THE TAPE ROLL IS JOURNALED FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE WALLS AND A CAP INTERPOSED BETWEEN A SIDE FACE OF THE TAPE ROLL AND AN INTERIOR SURFACE OF A HOUSING WALL, THE CAP COMPRISING A FLAT DISC OF A SIZE SUFFICIENTLY LARGE TO SUBSTANTIALLY COVER THE SAID SIDE FACE OF THE ROLL, AND FURTHER COMPRISING A CYLINDRICAL HUB INTEGRAL AND CONCENTRIC WITH THE DISC, SAID HUB BEING DISPOSED BETWEEN THE SLEEVE OF THE TAPE ROLL AND SAID SUPPORT, THE LOWER SIDE FACE OF THE TAPE ROLL OVERLYING THE DISC OF THE CAP WHEN THE TAPE DISPENSER IS STORED WITH THE WALLS OF THE HOUSING SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL WITH SAID FACE LOWERMOST AND AFTER A PASSAGE OF TIME BE- 